Bethesda is finally going to give customers their canvas bags

Bethesda has dropped bollock after bollock with Fallout 76. Not only is the game itself a bit naff, but now we have the ongoing—and highly entertaining—”bag-gate” to sit back and enjoy, which is taking more twists and turns than an episode of Lost.

Let me recap things for you. First, Bethesda advertised some pretty cool-looking canvas bags as part of the Fallout 76: Power Armour Edition (which costs a ridiculous £179.99), but when gamers who purchased this version of the game received their package they were astonished to find that these awesome canvas bags had been replaced with cheap nylon bags that looked like something you’d keep a sleeping bag in.

Okay, so that’s bad enough, but things got worse. Following numerous complaints, Bethesda tried to retrospectively change the advertising for the Power Armour Edition hoping that nobody would notice. Then, customers shared screenshots of their complaints to Bethesda, with one member of the Bethesda Customer Support team claiming that the switch was due to “unavailability of materials”, while another told a customer that the canvas bags were “too expensive to make” and, unbelievably, that Bethesda “aren’t planning on doing anything about it”. Bethesda then went on to claim that this second Customer Support worker was just a temporary contract worker and was not employed directly by Bethesda.

To make things good again, Bethesda then very generously offered to compensate customers who purchased the Power Armour Edition with 500 Atoms. There are two problems with this: first, it’s in-game currency, and second, that’s the equivalent of about £3.99. Facepalm.

The whole thing has been an unmitigated PR disaster for Bethesda, who have done nothing but make themselves look like they’re trying to rip off customers and that they don’t give two shits about it. Thankfully, somebody at Bethesda seems to have rediscovered their brain, as they have finally announced that they are manufacturing replacement canvas bags for customers who bought the Power Armour Edition. Players who bought the Power Armour Edition will need to submit a ticket to Bethesda before January 31st 2019 and then they will be sent their canvas bags “as soon as they are ready”.

We are finalizing manufacturing plans for replacement canvas bags for the Fallout 76: Power Armor Edition. If you purchased the CE, please visit https://t.co/S5ClEZuQrx and submit a ticket by Jan. 31, 2019. We’ll arrange to send you a replacement as soon as the bags are ready.

As you can see, Bethesda gave no date on when they expect the bags to be ready, but at least they’re finally going to be true to their word (I think). Bethesda are a great company that have brought us some astonishing games, but they’ve really fucked this one up.

Chris is our resident FPS-obsessed football fanatic who—when not playing an FPS or FIFA—can probably be found spending the odd 100 hours or so building his perfect farm on Stardew Valley. Chris has grown up on gaming and loves nothing more than to discuss them with his fellow gamers and hear their opinions, before stubbornly arguing with them until they agree with his. Chris comes to you with a hint of cynicism and plenty of sarcasm.